Perse rugby player earns Lambs call-up for summer tour

Viwe (Upper Sixth) has got a kick out of being selected for the Lambs rugby squad for their summer tour of South Africa and Namibia.

The Perse 1st XV player will head off with the Lambs – the England independent schools representative squad – for a series of matches in July.

He said: “It’s really cool to have been selected because I’m actually South African. My dad’s family are from Durban and my mum’s family are from a town called Vryheid and we go back there every year.

“Going to play rugby in South Africa makes it even more special and I’m expecting there to be some very tough competition. I know we’ll play the Namibia U19 international side and Western Province and we may also play some strong school sides.

“As part of the tour we’ll also visit Robben Island and Table Mountain, so that cultural side is a huge part of it for me as well.”

Viwe, who began playing rugby at the Prep, made it into the Lambs squad after impressing selectors with his versatility at regional and national trials earlier this year.

He said: “I usually play in the back row of the scrum, but I just saw the trials as an opportunity to try something new.

“At the regional trials I was put at centre and I managed to play quite well even though I’d never played there before and I got through to the national trials.

“They put me on the wing for the national trials, but again that was my first game playing in that position and I did well enough to get selected.”

Despite being named in previous Lambs squads, shoulder injuries ruled Viwe out of being able to play, so he is relishing the chance to feature on the Africa tour.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to it because I’ve barely played this year. It does feel great to be selected because there was a very high calibre of players, even at the regional trials.

“It will be fun playing for the Lambs because they are more focused on entertaining, high-tempo rugby.

“Their motto is ‘fast and free’, so it’s good to be playing on the wing because you know they’ll try to get the ball out to you in a lot of space.”